Marj3, an educational technology (edtech) platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has raised a seed investment round led by US-based investment consultant, expert DOJO, and other angel investors.
The investment in the platform, which provides educational opportunities and scholarships, is aimed at boosting its new blended business model, and fuel the growth of universities joining the platform from around the world. It will also help accelerate the team’s expansion plan.
The Egypt-based company was founded in 2016 by Syrian entrepreneur Sami Al-Ahmad, who currently serves as the platform’s CEO, alongside Egyptian entrepreneurs Abdullah Samy and Ahmed El Gebaly. Since then, the educational platform has grown into the MENA region’s largest edtech platform, racking up 2.4 million visits per month.
The startup, initially connecting Arab youth to educational opportunities around the world, launched Universities and Courses departments in early 2020, and experienced an enormous 15-fold growth in revenues during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The startup is also positioning itself as a thought leader in the edtech field in the region, having recently published a report entitled “E-learning experience – MENA Region Insights 2020”.
Brian MacMahon, CEO at Expert DOJO, said, “Expert DOJO are so pleased to have invested in what we believe is going to be the ground zero for educational information globally.”
He added, “This team is poised for explosive growth over the 12 months and we are looking forward to supporting them with funds and connections ongoing.”
Al-Ahmad said, “I believe that this is a strategic partnership, not only an investment round, and it will enable us to achieve our vision in helping millions of youth in the MENA region to connect with educational opportunities around the world.”
“We have been seeing the change in the educational field coming up, however, COVID-19 has pushed this transformation forward around the whole world,” Al-Ahmad added, “There is a new norm and things will never get back to the way that we knew before. We believe that technology is humanity’s way to adapt to this change.”
Earlier in 2017, the startup went through an incubation programme at Flat6Labs, where they received their first investment.